Three Years Later…
My life has changed dramatically since September 11, 2001. Seeing as how the anniversary of that horrible day is just around the corner, I feel some reflection is in order.
I was preparing to go into a production meeting with a client when my stepmother called. “Turn on the TV” my stepmother said with some urgency. But we didn’t have a TV at the plant. So I logged on to MSNBC.com instead. Holy Guano! How the heck does a jet liner run into a building? She relayed to me in real-time what Fox News had to say. It was a horrible thing, to be sure, but I didn’t think terrorism until a few minutes later when she gasped. Then I got to watch on the internet as the second tower was hit. Then I watched the towers fall, heard rumors of a car bomb at the State Department, the attack on the Pentagon. It was so surreal. This can’t be true. I’m a child of Reagan. I’ve known threat, but not war. Was I naïve? In retrospect…very much so. I will never forget that day. I know what I was wearing. I remember what I had for breakfast. I remember it all. I remember that our meeting was canceled so that our clients could go home to their families. I remember driving home that day, turning on the television, and staying glued to the tube all night. I remember crying a lot, for the tragedy, for the victims and their families, and for what it meant. We are at war. And now I hate. I hate the bastards that did this. (How's that for unvarnished un-PC honesty?) I can still see the towers burning, the debris, and the fall.
I didn’t go spend $8.00/gallon for gasoline. I didn’t go buy 6 gallons of milk. But I definitely started paying more attention to my surroundings and the news. I was more aware of everything all of a sudden. Noises, smells, feelings and thoughts. I was on ultra-alert. I stayed that way for about 9 months before I relaxed to my current state of moderate-alert. I’m still addicted to the news, but now I watch cable news instead of those hacks at the local news and those compulsive liars/spinners at the major networks.
Before 9/11/01, I was single and living in Southern Illinois. I had a great job that I loved and I was well-paid for my efforts. Now? Now I am married and living in Wisconsin and not so happily employed or paid. But, I’m a lot less lonely. Now I know somebody would care if I was gone. Somebody would miss me. That’s comforting. I regret leaving my old job, but not getting married. Married is good.
I guess I just want to be living my life. And I don’t want anything like September 11th to ever happen again. But it is incumbent upon this generation, my generation, to make certain that it doesn’t. It’s our job. We CAN do it. And we will. It will take blood, sweat, and tears, but we are equal to the task.
